Archive for the ‘Muffins & Scones’ Category

For the last several years we have been celebrating Thanksgiving with our friend the Eppenberger Family. They make delicious cranberry sauce from scratch every year, and I always save extra cranberry sauce to make these delicious muffins.

The muffin batter is pretty much consisted of the “orange” part while the “cranberry” part comes from the cranberry sauce filling. It tasted so good, tangy and refreshing. Although the batter is dense and thicker than average muffin batter, but after baking the muffins were very nice– golden brown on the top, light and fluffy inside. I think I nail it down this time– the secret is egg separation method. It’s a bit more work, but definitely worth the efforts.

In a large bowl, sift flour, 5 tbsp sugar, baking power and salt. Mix in orange zest. Make a well in the center.

Whisk all ingredients (except melted butter) in egg yolk mixture to blend well. Add in melted butter and mix well again. Pour into flour mixture. Use a spatula to fold in just enough to moist. The batter will be stiff. Do not over mix the batter.

In a separate clean bowl, whip egg whites on high speed until it looks white and bubbles are very tiny. Gradually add in sugar. Continue whipping on hash speed until soft peak (curve tip) forms.

Fold in whipped egg whites into the batter in 2 batches.

Fill each muffin cup 1/3 full, spoon 1 tsp cranberry sauce in the center. Top the muffins cups with remaining batter, covering cranberry sauce all around. Sprinkle some walnuts on top if used. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown, and the muffin top springs back when lightly pressed. Remove to cool on a rack for 5 minutes before serving.

Regina’s Note:

Eggs: be sure to use room temperature eggs. A quick way is to soak eggs in luke warm water for 10-15 minutes to bring to room temperature.

Cranberry sauce: cook the sauce a bit longer (can use microwave, uncover and reheat for a few minutes) so it gets thicker, and stay nicely in the center of the muffin instead of leaking to the surface of the muffins.

Tired of typical sweet Scones? Try this savory good eat. Calabrese is a type of salame named after a region in southern Italy. It is mildly hot due to the addition of red pepper flakes. I also used fresh jalapeno peppers to make my scones spicier. If you can’t find hot Calabrese you can always use pepperoni.

In a separate bowl, whisk together whipping cream, eggs and vanilla extract to blend well.

Reserve 2 tbsp of egg mixture for egg wash, pour the remaining to flour mixture all at once. Use a spatula gently FOLD IN until it mostly incorporates (it’s okay if there is still some dry flour visible). Do not over mix the dough. Transfer dough out to a generously floured surface.

Use your hand to quickly form the dough into a ball. Avoid kneading. Cut the dough in half to form two separate balls. Flatten each ball to 1 1/2– 2 inch thickness, then divide into 6 wedges on each.

Place each dough wedge on lined baking tray, 3 inches apart. Brush the top with reserved egg wash. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Cool on a rack completely before storing in a container.

Regina’s Note:

Hot Calabrese: Use pepperoni if you can’t find hot Calabrese.

Egg Wash: Instead of wasting an egg for egg wash, I like to use whipping cream as it also gives the baked good a sheeny look.

Reheat Scones: To taste the best texture of a scone, it is best to reheat cooled scones briefly (325 F for 3-5 minutes) to capture the flaky exterior crumbs while the interior is fluffy and soft.

Last time I made corn bread it didn’t turn out as good as I expected– it wasn’t as fluffy as promised in the recipe, and quite dry too. I used a rectangle pan so when I sliced the corn bread it was full of crumbs… Well, this time I searched recipes for cornbread muffins, in the hope that texture will be more like fluffy muffins. I came acrossed this Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker (I believe the author got the recipe from Cooks Illustrated) , and decided to give it a try (even it only has one review). Why? Because this recipe uses more corn meal than other cornbread recipes, and the method really catches my eyes– it calls for cooking some corn meal with milk to trap the liquid, and thus producing moist cornbread muffins (as explained in Cooks Illustrated). I made a small change– increase sugar to 1/2 cup instead of 1/3 cup.

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with butter.

In a medium bowl, Whisk together 1½ cups of the cornmeal, the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining ½ cup cornmeal and the milk. Microwave for 1½ minutes, then whisk thoroughly and continue to microwave, whisking every 30 seconds, until thickened to a batter-like consistency (the whisk will leave a distinct trail in the bottom of the bowl that slowly fills in), 1 to 3 additional minutes. [Note: If you do not have a microwave, you can do this step in a saucepan on the stovetop.]

Whisk in the sour cream, melted butter, and sugar until combined, then whisk in the eggs. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour mixture until thoroughly combined (the batter will be very thick). Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups (the batter will mound slightly above the rim).

Bake until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 15-20 minutes, rotating the muffin tin halfway through baking. Let the muffins cool in the muffin tin on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove muffins from the muffin tin and let cool 5 minutes longer. Serve warm or at room temperature. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or wrapped in plastic wrap, placed in a freezer bag and frozen for up to 2 months.

Okay, last time I made strawberry chocolate muffins, I used 3/4 cup milk for 10 muffins– it was good, but a little too moist and too soft to hold its shape. The batter was kinda runny because I used milk, which contains more water. This time I fine tuned the recipe around– changed the ingredient proportion for 12 muffins, used whipping cream (which is thicker than milk), and switched to egg separation method. I believe the egg separation method is the main key to fluffy muffins. It’s the same principle as making a chiffon cake, and the outcome is really fluffy baked goods. Yes, it requires more work, but not too bad in this case. Give it a try!

In a large bowl, sift flour, 4 tbsp sugar, baking power and salt. Make a well in the center.

Whisk all ingredients in egg yolk mixture to blend well. Add in melted butter and mix well again. Pour into flour mixture. Use a spatula to fold in just enough to moist. The batter will be very lumpy and thick like wet dough. Do not over mix the batter.

In a separate clean bowl, whip egg whites on high speed until it looks white and bubbles are very tiny. Gradually add in sugar. Continue whipping on high speed until soft peak (curve tip) forms.

Fold in whipped egg whites into the batter in 2 batches, until all whipped egg whites just blend well. The batter at this point will still be lumpy but a little loose. Add in strawberries and chocolate chips, fold in a few more times.

Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake for 20-22 minutes and the muffin top springs back when lightly pressed. Remove to cool on a rack for 5 minutes before serving.

Regina’s Note:

Eggs: be sure to use room temperature eggs. A quick way is to soak eggs in luke warm water for 10-15 minutes to bring to room temperature.

Whipping cream: I used whipping cream instead of milk because whipping cream is thicker, and thus the batter was not as runny compared to using same amount of milk. If you use milk (preferably whole milk), start with 2/3 cup first to get the batter moist enough (batter should be dense like scone batter). You can always add a little more if needed. You can also use whipping cream/milk combination or substitute milk for cream, but if milk is used then cut down amount of liquid (starts with 1/2 cup then gradually adding a little more as you fold in batter) because milk contains more water and better absorbed by flour mixture, and thus you don’t need as much amount as cream.

If you have hot cocoa mix sitting in your pantry too long, you can use it too instead of unsweetened cocoa powder, but cut down sugar to 2 tbsp as there is sugar in hot cocoa mix. The chocolate flavor won’t be as strong but the muffins still taste good.

Other tangy berries like raspberry and blackberry are also good choices for making these muffins.